Do you use tags in DTP?

[meowky]

@vinschger

do you each time have to open the emoji keyboard to select the icons to enter the tag

No, that is not necessary. Typing cur will match Currently working on, and act will match To action

However, I prefer changing tag colors to using emojis.

[MsLogica]

@vinschger

your workflow is very interesting.

may I ask how you enter the tags with this special symbols? do you each time have to open the emoji keyboard to select the icons to enter the tag?

@MsLogica

• Currently working on
• To action

Those tags are applied manually when I’m working on things. DT autofills the tag, so I don’t need to type the emoji every time. I just write “curr’ in the tag field and DT presents the " Currently working on” tag.

If you’re applying tags manually, DT presents the matching tag during typing, Aside from my year tags (they are all short and too similar: 2021, 2022, etc.) I rarely type out a tag in full as DT will find it after a couple of letters.

[MsLogica]

@vinschger

just to understand better, you tag files when creating them, you add or delete tags when working on them or when finishing working on them, respectively. but then, you mainly use them when searching for files?

For me, yes. DT’s search functions are very powerful and I do make use of them, but equally I do enjoy navigating my databases visually (hence using groups) and often I know where a file is even if I cannot remember its name. I consider browsing through a group the same as browsing the shelves of a library. The group gets me to the right shelf, and it’s nice sometimes just to scan all the titles along the shelf and see what there is.

By default all my groups are sorted by file title, but when I’m looking for something specific I will often sort the group by tag. That shows me what types of file are in the group and any that have pending work associated with them.

@vinschger

can I create smartrules that filter for a combination of tags in the current open group?

You want a smart group for that, It groups items together based on the criteria you set. I don’t use smart groups (not for any reason, I’ve just not needed to), but the manual will explain what to do and I imagine the Take Control of DevonThink book will have examples.

[Mitch_Wagner]

This discussion has proven very useful to me.

Metaphors that don’t work for me:

• Documents are in groups but they have tags. Huh? The document isn’t inside anything. It’s all just bits.
• Groups separate things and tags collect them together? No! Each group is, for me, a collection of documents related to a project or an area of responsibility. I’ve been working that way for 40 years. (Sorry, @DTLow!)

However, there are a few ways of thinking that work for me:

• Groups are vertical, tags are horizontal.
• Groups are locations (as @MsLogica says). Tags are characteristics of documents.
• Tags are for types of files (again, @MsLogica suggests this). When I finish the draft of a report, that draft needs a specific Microsoft Word format. I can tag a document “template,” and then be able to find it again when I next finish a report, which could be months later.

Disclaimer: I am not disagreeing with anyone here. I do not claim to know the one true way to use groups and tags.

Second disclaimer: I know that some of the points in the second group contradict the points in the first group. These are all metaphors, and metaphors don’t need to make sense to be useful.